In 2002, the mobile phone service of the 3G system, called the third generation, started in Japan. At first, small-size packets were used for transmission or reception to perform voice calls and mail transmission. However, with the introduction of high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), it became possible to transmit and receive larger-size packets for downloading of music files or streaming of video. With such an increase in packet capacities, the service of long term evolution (LTE) in which orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) is used on the downlink also started for the expansion on the side of the wireless network. In addition, the launch of 4G services is scheduled to be made around 2015. Accordingly, up to one gigabit per second (Gbps) will be achieved in a semi-fixed environment and up to 100 Mbps will be achieved even in a mobile environment.
With such increase in network traffic, it is desirable to arrange a small base station that is inexpensive and easy to install for preventing the concentration of traffic. Various techniques are developed for such a small cell.
In one example, Patent Literature 1 discloses the technique for selecting a device that operates as an access point for a mobile station based on the quality obtained by measuring a wireless signal transmitted from one or more terminal devices.